Life

Upper Intermediate Unit 2b

The passive

The Hadron Collider was completed in 2008 and it is the

largest machine in the world. It was planned by over 10,000
scientists in 100 different countries. The machine continues
to be developed and many different experiments have been
carried out. The most famous involved sub-atomic participles
being fired at each other. It was hoped that by doing this,
the origins of the universe might be discovered.

Presentation

Use the passive form when you want to focus on the
person or thing affected by the action. The subject of
the passive verb is the object of the active verb:
action object
Active: Scientists completed the machine in 2008.
subject passive verb
Passive: The machine was completed in 2008.
The passive is often used when the agent …
• is not important: It was built in 1990 by someone.
• is obvious or has already been mentioned: Scientists do
experiments so discoveries might be made by scientists.
• doesn’t want to be known: I’m afraid the machine has
been broken by me.
Tenses and modal verbs
To form the passive, use be + past participle. See the
table.
Passive infinitive and passive -ing form
You form the passive infinitive with be + past participle.
You can use the passive infinitive with verbs that are
followed by the to infinitive (e.g. agree, demand, want).
The Prime Minister agreed to be interviewed.
You form the passive -ing form with being + past
participle. The passive -ing can be used with verbs that
are followed by verb -ing (e.g. enjoy, hate).
The children enjoy being taken to the zoo.
You cannot use the passive form with intransitive verbs
(e.g. arrive, die, go, sit) because they have no direct
object: The tests went well. (not The tests are gone well.)

Active Passive
Scientists test the machine. The machine is tested.
Scientists tested the machine. The machine was tested.
Scientists are testing the machine. The machine is being tested.
Scientists were testing the machine. The machine was being tested.
Scientists have tested the machine. The machine has been tested.
Scientists had tested the machine. The machine had been tested.
Scientists might test the machine. The machine might be tested.

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 Upper Intermediate Unit 2b
Exercises

Exercises
1  Complete the first half of an article by writing the verb in brackets in the correct tense
and passive form. Then listen and check.

2  Complete the second half of the article by underlining the active or passive form. Then listen
and check.

3 Choose the correct option. In two sentences, both answers are possible.
1 All the students hope to be put / being put into Mr Brown’s class.
2 He can’t stand to be proved / being proved wrong in an argument.
3 Are you prepared to be asked / being asked some difficult questions?
4 Anyone who is late for the bus risks to be left / being left behind!
5 Your aunt appeared to be shocked / being shocked by the film. What were you watching?
6 We knew he was missing school because he kept to be seen / being seen around town during the day.
7 I’m worried about not to be chosen / not being chosen for the team.
8 No one likes to be delayed / being delaying at airports.
9 The winning team stopped in their town to be cheered / being cheered by their fans after they won the cup.
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